Month: June 2005

Signs recently spotted at Portland’s first-ever Bike Kiss-in event.

* Make love, not traffic
* Honk if you’re jealous
* Lip lock, not gridlock
* Bikes have more fun
* If you rode your bike, you’d be kissing now

If you missed it, check the Pedalpalooza calendar for more bike fun that you can handle!

Total partcipants: 74!

from David Ross:
Check the report and photos on his blog.

from Carye Bye:

Kudos to David for putting on a really fun event!! I loved biking all over Portland on a lovely sunny Saturday looking for clues mostly to do with local murals, & public art. In the group I joined up with there was a French Aupair/ nanny who had just arrived a week ago, and with the ride taking us all around SE, Waterfront, Riverplace, Downtown, The Pearl, Laurelhurst, and Hollywood — she had a fabulous introduction to Portland by Bike. And I was reminded that I have truely become a bike commuter in this town because I could easily decide how to get across town in the quickest, and most bikeable way.

Thanks again David (Ross) for making this event happen!

Riders: 33

As reported by Emily:

We had wonderful weather for this ride this afternoon. 33 people were there at the start including a gaggle of kids a few people from my previous tours and lots of first timers, both to Heritage Trees and Bikes. Many thanks to Jeff Bernards and Shawn Granton for help with counts, corking and that group photo!

We truly did have a liesurely ride through the neighborhood and got to see all the trees in full folliage. We were able to see the distinctive bracts of the American Hop Hornbeam for which it is named and we had the bonus of a beautiful flowering Northern Catalpa which was not a Heritage Tree (yet).

One of the Neighborhood Tree Liasons for Irvington, who is also an arborist, came along on his red Schwinn Corvette and spontaneously offered a bonus walk of the distinctive trees in Laurelhurst park at the end of the tour!

A good time was had by all.

Click here to see Deepak Saxena’s images.

Reported by Ayleen:

MW-Represent was thoroughly educational! We had 35 people throughout the night and the recycling bin is overflowing with beer cans – lots of Milwaukee’s Best.

COMPETITIONS

BEST COZY
tie : Melissa and Allison Parker

BEST MIDWEST SHIRT
Jennie Tower for her Rockford Speedway shirt that was signed across teh chest by the guy who won (by racing a mini school bus) the night she bought the shirt.

CREATIVITY
Hands down this goes to Carye Bye for her jello salad with a Minnesota flag and Gradma’s Cowboy Cookies complete with Grandma’s recipe. Oh, and Minnesota music! Sorry there were no more prizes at this point because someone stole the other prizes.

Yeah, someone stole two prizes and I found the wrapper for one of them in the bathroom the next morning. THAT WAS WEIRD.

GAMES

• We didn’t get around to playing Euchre because things were hectic.
• We played with ducks.
• We played Bocce in the rain until it got to be too much.

FOOD

Bratwurst, Cincinnati Chili (thanks Carie!), deviled eggs, the aforementioned MN treats, conies and more. YUM!

Thanks to everyone who came. We’ll see you next year!

When: 6/12/05
Reported by Shawn:

Despite some confusion at the beginning of the ride, the 18 participants (14 riders and 4 organizers) of the R U Couv Curious ride had a swell-o-riffic time learning how to effectively cross the Columbia River to get to Vancouver, Washington.

A group met Kiran at the Rose Quarter stop on the Yellow Line at 11am, while I met another group at Kenton station at 11.30am. From the area around the Expo Center station, we traversed the maze of bike paths to get up across Oregon Slough into the Shoppers Paradise known as Jantzen Beach. We negotiated the “recommended” crossing across the island (which is very poorly designed and quite dangerous) to get to the foot of Interstate Bridge, where we zipped over the three-quarters of a mile crossing of the Mightiest River In The West. Narrow sidewalks, low “don’t walk” signals, and bird poop by the metric ton(ne) be damned!

Once we reached the State Of Washington side, Suzan and Todd, our ‘Couv liaisons, took us on an enjoyable loop of the central city, taking in the sights of the Columbia River Promenade, Pearson Airfield, Fort Vancouver, Uptown Village, and finally downtown. We stopped at Esther Short Park (the oldest park in the Northwest!) and headed over to the Farmer’s Market for nourishment before our return trip “over the river”.

After we were satisfied, we returned to the Beaver State, learned about the sneak way through Jantzen Beach (to avoid the dangerous “bike route”), and crossed through East Delta Park to get to the Paul Bunyan statue in Kenton (our protector!) We parted our separate ways and headed off to more bike fun.

6/14/05
Reported by Shawn:

Despite the weather turning to total crap immediately before and at times on this ride, the Pizza Ride managed to attract 24 hardy bicyclists, whose love of pizza overcamePortland’s notorious rain.

The ride started at Wallace Park (NW 25th and Raleigh) at about 6.30pm and hit up two pizzerias in NW, Tributes and Escape from New York. We ordered pies in advance, and had them cut into 16 slices instead of the usual 8, so the riders wouldn’t have to eat too much at one place. The first two stops whetted everyone’s appetite, and we cruised downhill to Hot Lips in the Pearl. Once we arrived, the sky opened up, leading one rider to comment, “At least it’s waiting to rain until AFTER we get to a stop!”

We chomped on some of Hot Lips organic, locally grown slices while waiting for the rain to slow down. On leaving, Timo got a flat and stayed to repair while the rest of Team Pizza headed east across the Broadway Bridge and then north up Williams to Pizza A Go-Go. After A Go-Go, we lost a few of the riders, as they had reached their pizza limit. But over 16 were still able to press on further north-eastward towards Bella Faccia on NE Alberta and 30th. We managed to pass the new mural going up in front of SCRAP, being painted by Bruce Orr (Mudeye Puppets) and Carla Forte!

By the time we got to Bella, the sun had set, so there was a special urgency to get things moving. Or maybe not. We took awhile at Bella, waiting for Team Timo (who eventually did arrive), and several of us obtained beers. Of note was the suggestive nature of Bella’s front sign. The next time you go by there, take a close look.

It was almost 10pm by the time we left Bella Faccia. 12 hardy souls stuck through to the Final Stop of the ride, heading due south towards southeast. We made a small “bomb” down the Alameda Ridge at Regents Dr, and used the super-secret “Schuyler’s Alley” to get over to NE 28th and Broadway. Ah, Schuyler’s Alley, the great democratizer, since even the tallest person will be made short at some point.

Despite a run-in with a pissed off SUV driver on 28th, we were in high spirits for the last stop, Stark Naked Pizza, on SE Stark at 28th. Even though we had quite a bit o pizza in us, we scarfed down that last one in no time. Eventually, it was time to end our pizza affair, and the remaining dozen all went their separate ways into the night, completely full. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to Stacatto Gelato for the after-ride desert of cannolis, due to all of us being too full and it being too late to catch Stacatto open.

Oh yeah! We had ballots to rate each pizzeria and find out which one is best. The outcome of the poll will be the subject of an upcoming email, but right now I can say that both Bella Faccia made strong showings and Escape managed to disappoint.

And a recap by the numbers:
Miles rode: 9 (estimate)
Time of total ride: 4 1/2 hours (6.30pm to 11pm)
Total number of riders: 24
Number of riders who stuck it out till the end: 12
Pizzerias hit: 6
Amount paid for all the pizza per rider (for the riders who hit all 6 spots): $7.40
Flat tires: 1
Utili-kilts: 1
Pizzed, I mean pissed off SUV drivers: 1
Alameda Ridge Bombs: 1

Reported by Allan:

The HOB Nob (high occupancy bike ride) was a splendid success. The stats:

People –
11 riders, 2 of which were children

Bikes –
1 triple with a piccolo trailer (I guess that makes it a Quad)
3 tandems, 1 of which was a Chunker, 1 with a kiddie seat and a Burley
double trailer
1 single bike with a piccolo trailer
1 single bike with a cargo trailer
1 single bike with a handlebar basket

Destination Goodies –
5 kinds of cookies
1 carrafe of pipin’ hot tea

Those that care to do the math can see we had plenty of spare capacity.
As for the route, its a secret. You’ll have to come next year. It was a
real test of HOB handling skills and had lots of fun and interesting
stops along the way.